March 21, 2011

More on Jackson's injury

You can ice, you can use electrical stimulation, you can get a massage. But the only thing that really heals a strained hamstring is time, and Stephen Jackson and the Charlotte Bobcats have none.

Wednesday’s home game against the Indiana Pacers is huge, as far as whatever chance the Bobcats have of reaching the playoffs. Leading scorer Jackson says he’ll play, but he has no idea how effective he’ll be the rest of this season.

“You can’t move, can’t change speeds (or) be as aggressive as you want to, especially driving to the cup,’’ Jackson said after Monday’s practice. “It’s a sharp pain that I can’t really deal with.’’

“I’ve got to find a way to get it well enough to play Wednesday. It’s a big game.’’

The Bobcats have already lost a tiebreaker to eighth-place Indiana. The Pacers were 1½ games ahead of the Bobcats entering their game last night in New Jersey. This is the Bobcats’ last chance to beat the Pacers, after losing the first three meetings of the season series.

The Bobcats are 1-5 this season when Jackson doesn’t play, and that’s no surprise. He’s their leading scorer (18.9 points per game) on a team in a constant struggle offensively in his absence.

Since the Bobcats traded away Gerald Wallace, it’s been difficult to pinpoint a second offensive option. D.J. Augustin and Gerald Henderson have had moments, but it’s rough when either one becomes an NBA defense’s primary focus.

Jackson didn’t run or jump in practice Monday, and he said he might not test the injury until pre-game Wednesday. Never in 11 NBA seasons has he had this sort of nagging injury with no clear timetable for when he’ll fully recover.

“When I broke my foot, it was six weeks (in a) cast and it’s fine. This injury comes and goes, and the timing is messed up because I need to be out there playing at this crucial time of the season,’’ Jackson said.

The Bobcats are down to 13 games, eight of them at home. Beating the Pacers Wednesday and the Bucks Monday are virtually essential steps if the Bobcats expect to repeat as a playoff team. And they’re coming off a 0-3 road trip.

“The attitude is we’re still going to make it. Everybody is still positive,’’ Jackson said. “We still have a great chance, even though Milwaukee is ahead of us (via tiebreaker). Everybody thinks the goal is still reachable.’’

NOTES: Assistant coach Charles Oakley (sciatic nerve irritation) missed practice Monday to get a magnetic resonance imaging on his back. Oakley, a longtime NBA power forward, suffered back spasms so severe in San Antonio that he had to be carried from the bench to the training room…

This is an incredibly busy time at Time Warner Cable Arena. Coming off hosting the NCAA tournament, the building will house two Bobcats games, a hockey game, two Harlem Globetrotters appearances and a Prince concert in a week’s time.

Comments

Jackson shouldn't play hurt because I'm not sure where the cats are going. The season began sluggishly with the team not resigning Felton, trading Chandler and when things went wild, Brown was fired as head coach of Charlotte Bobcats.

Silas came and is trying to mend things, but again, Wallace was traded. Wallace was the the team second option offensively and defensively. Whenever Jackson is down, the team struggle and can not win any game. Why qualified for the playoffs and be blown in the first round? The team must go into rebuilding mode for the next two seasons if Jordan want this team to be a contender.

Let jackson rest his injury because the cats aren't going to the playoffs.

I think there is a 30 percent chance of making the playoffs. I still believe that the Pacers are the wildcard in the playoff run. They are sitting real pretty up there of course they have the easy schedule. Bobcats have a nightmare of a schedule but the only faith I have is that this the east still. So the game is a must win. Honestly they need to win the next 4 out of 5 games to get in the playoffs if not the 30 percent goes to 1 percent. Wallace is gone, plus Felton and others so we as painful as that is we need to look toward the future. They are a lot of good players beside the top names we just name. I would like either or both of the Morris twins from Kansas. big and physical Everybody screaming Barnes and Sullinger. We are not the top 3 worst teams so why not think outside the box. What about that guy from BYU yeah he is pretty good.

Posted by: tbird | Mar 21, 2011 11:25:22 PM

Rick,
With the injury to Jackson, is there any chance the Cats will take a look at Da'Sean Butler now that he has been cleared to play?

Posted by: Caleb | Mar 22, 2011 8:34:38 AM

I'm with Caleb...i know we have henderson, but i love me some da'sean butler!

Posted by: Rain Man | Mar 22, 2011 10:42:54 AM

Knowing how competitive Jax is, of course he wants to play. But letting him play will be a big mistake. As bad as his hamstring injury is, he can't really help the team win, he can only aggravate his injury.

What was achieved by rushing Tyrus back into the games? He had to rest at least eight weeks after his surgery (as initially reported). Instead, he was back playing after seven weeks, he played below his real ability, and he renewed his knee troubles.

Let Jax recover, ask the healthy guys to step up and give all they have, and count on their effort and will to win.
If you win when the team's best player can't be there for you, it's great. But, if you can't, you have to take it like a man - not drag injured guys on the court until their injuries get worse.

Posted by: Sandy | Mar 22, 2011 4:44:48 PM

I guess we've seen the best of this co-captain because we can all be sure that the owner will trade or release him after the season to save more $$$.

Posted by: chris in union county | Mar 22, 2011 8:53:46 PM

I hope he does trade him. Another guy not worth 9 million. Let's free up some space and take a run at some real players.

Posted by: Gary | Mar 22, 2011 8:57:50 PM

We have a gud composition of players. They hustle, rebound and play defense..

Wats missing is a constant diet of pt gd dishhing in the paint and playmaking.I SWEAR THAT IF U PUT A PLAYMAKING PT GD ON THIS TEAM WE ARE BETTER THAN THE PACERS, BUCKS AND PHILLY. ONE WHO CAN STAY IN FRONT OF HIS MAN, FITE THRU PIKS AND PLAY SOME DEFENSE.

U CANT JUST SAY A PT GD IS GETNG 6 assists a game so we are ok. No ,we need one who gets 10 or 11 a nite in the paint . Thats all this team needs. Get billups next yr. Or a a pt gd like barron davis but who doesnt cost as much.. Felton will be avsilable. Hes wat i have in mind but hes an improvement onnthe type of pt gd play we desparately need .

I like dj and livy but they dont playmake remotely well enuff. If they did ,they wud make tt,white,cunningham huge factors on this team. If we had great interrior passing sf,pf or c we wudent need them to playmake as much but we dont. Hendo n diaw pass into the interrior but not even enuff to offset the deficits of dj n livy.

Isiah thomas had to be schooled by chuck daly to create first ,set his teamates up ,then shoot as a third option even if he cud eaily score.. It was not until then did he become great.

The cats need further to push the ball up the floor by pasing and not dribbling on the fadtbreaks. Silas must as well change the offense to get way more layups out of it. We get killed by the jump shot as they trigger the opposing teams fatbreak. Real pik n rolls, bak doors, alley oop,weak side cuts for layups ..its not fair to these real gud guys on this team to struggle like this. Isnt his son an x n o guy? Coaches around the league who r jobless can really take this team to the next level if he cant.

Finally ,whr is the trapping defense on the star players. ?? No properly run fastbreaks, no trapping defenses even tho u have thorobreads, no pt gd dishing in the paint, no offense w a pik n roll to the basket , bak doors, weak side cutters who get the ball . U do these things and u beat an aging dismantled boston team rite now in the first round... Yes really.

Posted by: Ironman | Mar 23, 2011 8:52:19 AM

it sucks because with all the youth they've accumulated....he and boris have to feel like their days are numbered here and that can definitely factor into effort and or willingness to play through injuries. I can't blame them either. Hopefully they will be decisive in that area and not let it affect next year like it did this year.

And they better keep cunningham since we gave up derrick brown for him. Not a lot of 5's out there but we definitely need atleast 2 new ones if not 3.